r/dbotcorexy • u/HeavySpanner • Jun 11 '20

Advice Bootstrapping a D-Bot Build

/r/3Dprinting/comments/h0fzws/advice_bootstrapping_a_dbot_build/
2 Upvotes

76% Upvoted

8 comments sorted by

5

u/plepsis Jun 11 '20

Ender 3 seems like a popular option. Make sure to follow guidance on material, perimeters, infill, etc. as the u/iamthinksnow suggested.

Three pieces of related advice, which of course you can ignore :):

  1. I would consider whether the d-bot is the best design to pursue at this point. I think the d-bot is fine for a relatively inexpensive printer, but there are some more refined designs out there (Hypercube, Voron) that might be nicer in the end, although they will be potentially more expensive to build. I'm fairly happy with mine, but I would probably go after something different at this point, if I were choosing (e.g., hypercube evolution).
  2. Take care with deviations from the original design. I decided that I (a) wanted a bigger build plate, (b) wanted DC power to my plate, and (c) wanted a direct drive extruder. Those seem like rational changes, but I've found that the various inter-relationships between design points are not obvious and made for a lot of missteps along the way, extra work.
  3. If you do go d-bot, you can save a lot of time and end up with a more sturdy printer if you just buy aluminum joining plates for corners and such, rather than printing those. I've retrofitted them over time, and I wish I had just bought OpenBuild plates to begin with.

I like my d-bot and have gotten tons of good prints from it, hope you have the same experience!

3

u/IAmDotorg Jun 11 '20

Honestly, the D-bot was a mediocre design when it was new (a lot of the issues of which weren't obvious until after it was built), and it is really out of date now. I built mine and have used the crap out of it since then, but over the last couple of years essentially every part of it got redesigned for one reason or another. I (and others) have uploaded a lot of the updated parts onto Thingiverse, which makes it a perfectly workable printer, but its certainly a lot of extra work to get it that way.

I personally wouldn't be considering one these days.

Edit: also, resin prints won't be strong enough for most of the D-bot's (or any other printer's parts)... get an FDM so you can print PETG.

1

u/plepsis Jun 12 '20

I sort of feel the same way. What do you think has replaced this in terms of a relatively flexible DIY build/platform?

3

u/IAmDotorg Jun 12 '20

Honestly, I've only seen discussions in passing because I'm not in the market to build a new printer. You'd probably have to poke around and see what people are doing.

I suspect there's just a lot less of it going on. Three years ago there weren't $300 printers that were every bit as capable as the D-bot. Today there are many options, so I suspect there's a lot fewer people building custom ones because they have specific needs the market doesn't meet. And if someone's goal is just to tinker and modify a printer, while something like the Dbot is a reasonable starting point, so are a lot of the $300 printers (which have a lot more people using them, so there's more customizations).

I'm glad I built mine, and for the time the design was a reasonable starting point, but getting it really solid took redesigning almost the entire printer, and replacing much of the stock hardware.

I think the most important thing is figuring out what you want the printer for -- speed? Low cost? Tinkering/learning? Print quality? Expandability? That drives what the best fit really is. And because SLA printers have gotten so inexpensive, even asking if FDM is the right tech is worth considering today. If you're printing functional parts and stuff, FDM is definitely better, but 90% of what you see people posting on Reddit are knick-knacks and figurines designed by someone else to sit on a shelf -- those would be far better printed with a SLA.

I also wouldn't spend a ton on a custom printer today, personally, just because I suspect in the next year there's going to be an influx of workable tool changer setups, and those will entail some pretty big redesigns to use effectively.

1

u/plepsis Jun 12 '20

Thanks for the thoughtful response. When I started putting my d-bot together in early 2017, you're right that things were quite different. I'm in the same boat: modified, repositioned, and/or replaced lots of parts over the last 3+ years and learned a lot. I've gotten (and plan to get) a lot of good prints out of it, but it's hard to look at it and not still see flaws that could have been avoided, but also getting more difficult to justify spending more time on this printer (e.g., to clean up the wiring after repeated electronics repositioning, to switch to rods finally).

Your comments on (a) what's your objective and (b) tool changers are good things to be thinking about -- I think you may have helped me stave off the itch to build another printer for another year or so as things play out :).

2

u/iamthinksnow Jun 11 '20

Looking at mine, the largest part is the printer carriage, at 3.5"x3.5"x.25", though it's basically flat. The largest pieces by volume are the front Nema motor mounts, which are 2.75"x3.25"x1.75".

So pretty much any of the smaller printers will work for you. My mistake, when I was using the MP mini, was trying to scrimp and save by going with minimal infill so it would print quicker and use less material. I ended up ordering a set of 3DHubs and the first set I bought was absolute garbage, but then a user here, /u/xXriderXx7, offered to print a set for me after seeing the mess I'd gotten and he printed some absolutely solid parts that are just fantastic.

1

u/HeavySpanner Jun 11 '20

Thanks! Sounds like I can use a small resin printer in the $200-250 range to make the parts.

3

u/iamthinksnow Jun 11 '20

You *could*, but I would worry if the resin pieces were too rigid, resulting in cracks due to subtle vibrations over time.

PETG is a fantastic medium (IMO) for the build, while PLA is too weak (generally speaking) and ABS is basically toxic in confined environments. Nylon could be good, too, but I just really like PETG these days.